Dual manifold construction



Dec. 4, 1934. G BARKER 1,982,625

DUAL MANIFOLD CONSTRUCT ION Original Filed April 5, 1952 A. Barker B7 Patented Dec. 4, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT Original application April ,5, .1932, Serial .No.

603,423. Divided and this application Decem- 1. .SB 'iQINQ- 454 7 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 v(1.6%.?'7)

This invention described herein may be manufactured and .used by or forithe Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of .any royalty thereon. v

This :invention.re1ates .to internal combustion engines or thelike and more particularly to the manifold through which the operatingfuel gas is conveyed .to the cylinders, this application being a divisionof applicants co-pending application Serial .No. 603,423,.fi1edApri1 5, 1 932 andentitled Manifold.

The principal object .of the invention is to maintain -a substantially uconstant flow of gas withinthetintake manifoldJn the direction of the intake xvalve, .and thereby eliminate surging oi -the gasinssaid manifold caused bythe closingof the saidvalve.

Another: objectzof the invention is to provide a reservoir vw-ith -a..;storage for intake gasi close proximitytothe intakevalve where said gas may beheld under pressure and instantly released'to enter the cylinder on agsubseguent opening of said valve.

. A further object :of the invention is to increase the volumetric 1efiiciency,. as well as the horsepoweryper piston displacement, ,of a reciprocating engine. v

With these and other objects inview, which will become apparent from the followin disclosure, the inventionresideshin the ,novel details of constructionland combination of parts which are recited .in the following spe fi at an particularly pointed out in the'claims.

Referring .to :the accompanying drawing, forming .a part of ..;this; specification, in which like numerals designate like partsin all the views:

Fig. 1 is arside elevation ofthe cylinder block of. aniinternal combustion-engine showin h intake manifold and carbureter; the manifold shown is of the Ygtype with the compression chamber located between the';divergent intake passages.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a manifold of the:Y type in which: the compressionchamber lies: toone sideiand above the divergent intake passages, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective .viewdllustrating another modification, of the Y shaped manifold, wherein the compression chamber consists of ,a pipe or tube. bridging the terminals of, and parallelly disposed to the branches of the Y.

V :Thepresentandusual types ofintake. manifolds used on internal combustion engines have van interior diameter. .or cross-sectional area ,which issubStantiaIIy runiforrnlirom ithe carbureter to he inta port o the e limlertlpeh whe e it follows that the intake port, thelintake'ii'iani ol d the carhmete r 0 'iri flwilih he mei ifslq ar a of S b ant ly fl a a u th r.th ecombustible fuel g'as frorn'thfe arb-uret sd a th ushqtb int k 11 .i ld into the cylinders of the engine by the o ra 1' of thepistonsand the intake valves. 'ifIhat is to. S y piston rec d n l qvi d w lltei l in a cylinder produces asuction'whichg'vvhen the intake valve is open, draws an arnonntjoffuel 111150 the nde -Qm h meni mdi'ih s ensu e, qfgas being retainedin the.cyliridervbyj auto m 1051 .15 o s d-v l aten s simaiel the limit of the receding or'dow n stroke of faid pis o .0 th v u ward; e a venqin str ke. th piston. compresses the fuel gas just drawn int thecylinder, this compressed gas being ignited at appro imatel thel m qr the advenqin s rq s 0f t piston, the ore- O h .ignit .dr i the piston downwardon the, next receding stroke a th n o w h s rok th exh us lve veis aut ma ica y on t perm tthe 1 .8 .91 1 th ellqwins upward or adv nc s ro t forethe burne sasou ofth cylind r- Th c cleisihe repeatedfresh fuel gas ,beingdrawninto the cylinder on th fol w n ..d wnonre slin ei,...l of the piston as j st stated.

Thus it wil .b se t at h i lek e T W ery api m h me olcli iae Mi dse repeated andswwflfiflme in rv s." sea 9 @nstentlmen hateec p ihes t m ntervals is. equiva n t a l ttl mer tha pile-$9 9 h r tin c cle. and that h gas i nterinsth rlind athish v loc y. defi e 5 3 ste tia lvon f o one r ten on th eng n shaft. ,Eorexamplaa. single cylinder engine hav- 1%. a r sen. di a ement o 19 3 in he en urnins v r a 00 R; -"M- wi im r a K 9 typf. seve alhun redfsetper m u wil see 9 f i th nta me iql Wl .h e ke val sudden y .cl se yihe lufl gas .i h Inani fqld still under this; high velocityand there is n ed a e bu a pre sur 9 pr e b d i va uein them ni o c ose adjacen t in ll Valve. v vv;1th,..ti p es n ..end.. 9e er ii9n e, of maniiol ;ithep os napf h i iak Y li pi l e a. sudde .st p...t thi snqri i gflow oil gets under hi h vel city. a co s uent th r s at? 1 5 h c lm nife t it e in smpres p i .9 q ed by s r nsan ,reiroe egi f19w; of-th uelggesi theine ifqld- El i l h iq hicr at o f. a ow pr ssure, area W e iw least lrer ieli a itmi.

of the intake valve. Obviously, when this valve again opens, this low pressure condition reduces the amount of fuel gas that can enter the cylinder, thereby lowering the potential efficiency of operation of the engine. This invention is therefore directed to the partial if not total elimination of this low pressure effect, by a change in construction of the conventional intake manifold.

According to this invention there is provided a reservoir or compression chamber located in the intake manifold in close proximity to the intake port or valve leading to the engine cylinder, said chamber being for the purpose of storing fuel gas during the time that the intake valve is closed and which will be ready for immediate charging into said cylinder as soon as said valve opens.

This chamber may be of various shapes and sizes as best suited for the design of particular engines.

For example, it may be in the shape of a projection extending radially from the manifold, or it may be formed so as to more closely hug the contour of the manifold. In the drawing various modifications of form have been particularly illustrated and will be individually described in the following, the general points of similarity in all the views being that 1 represents a cylinder or its casting block, 2 the intake manifold generally, 3 the carbureter, and4 the reservoir or compression chamber generally and forming the subject matter of this invention.

With'particular reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the compression chambers 4 at the ends of the manifold are made larger than the similar intermediate chambers 2, because the latter are more ac- 35 cessible to the gas supply. These chambers are cast integral with the intake manifold, converging or not as desired into a restricted neck portion 6 at their junction with said manifold, and are disposed in close proximity to the intake port 7 with which the manifold registers.

According to this construction, when the intake valve closes, the fuel gas under high velocity in the intake manifold instead of coming to an abrupt stop continues under rapidly reducing flow, the inertia of the gas causing a considerable portion thereof to enter the chamber 4 and become compressed and trapped therein due to the restricted neck 6. At the next opening of the valve the suction produced by the downwardly moving piston will act upon this entrapped and compressed gas to cause its immediate passage through the intake port 7 into the engine cylinder. By this time, the same piston produced suction will have caused the conventional flow of fuel gas from the carbureter through the manifold to and into said cylinder. Because of the storage of fuel gas in the chamber 4 and the initial flow of this entrapped gas, the peak velocity obtained in the intake manifold is not as great as in the usual or conventional type of manifold. When the intake valve again closes instead of having a sudden stoppage of gas flow, the gas passes into the reservoir or compression chamber such as 4, after which any surging of gas is confined to the intake manifold proper; thence the cycle repeats as heretofore explained.

This manifold construction is not unlike the well known water ram used in water systems under pressure. In fact the actions of an intake manifold of an engine, a water ram, and the rapid closing of a valve in a city'water'system,

are very similar. In the latter case a shock absorbing means in the form of an air chamber or bulb is used tocushion or'absorb the inertia of the flowing water in the pipe.' Since water is practically incompressible, there results a change in volumetric air displacement within the air chamber or, in other words, the original air in the chamber is compressed into a smaller volume. In the device of this invention the fuel gas under high velocity is compressible and readily miscible with air in the chamber 4, wherefore there is no hammer effect occurring in this modified manifold when the intake valve closes, the gas becoming entrapped and compressed within the chamber, leaving the gas outside said chamber in the manifold subject only to any surging and retrograde flo-w. By surging is meant the sudden acceleration or movement of the column of fuel gas in any direction, as well as the sudden stopping of the moving column of said gas; in fact by it meant any change in the directional movement of said gas column.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a type of compression chamber 4 which may be utilized in connection with a main manifold 2 terminating in diverging branch passages such as 13 and 14 each leading to the intake port '7 of an engine cylinder. In this type of manifold the compression chamber 4 is substantially triangular in shape being located between the diverging passages, the inner wall of each passage being cut off at the intake port end thereof to provide a restricted throat or passage 6 into said chamber 4. From said figure it will be understood that fuel gas will travel alternately and successively in the passages 13 and 14 according to which intake valve is open at the time. When the gas travel is in passage 13 then there will be movement of gas from the chamber 4 toward the inlet port associated with said passage and this. automatically draws some of the gas in passage 14 into said chamber. Naturally the same gas flow takes place, only in alternate manner, when the other direction of gas travel is toward the inletport associated with passage 14. Therefore, it will be evident that the chamber 4 always has gas therein ready for immediate discharge into either inlet-port and in advance of the main flow of gas from the carbureter when the intake valves open.

Fig. 2 shows a somewhat similar construction wherein the main manifold 2 is provided with divergent branch passages 13 and 14 each leading to the intake port 7 of an engine cylinder, but here the compression chamber lies to one side of and above said passages instead of therebetween. The restricted throat 6 is likewise present in this modification.

The main manifold 2 of Fig. 3 is also branched forming the passages 13 and 14, but by this modified form of the invention the compression chamber 4 is a pipe or tube which may be straight'or curved and which not only connects the branch passages 13 and 14 near their extremities but which also has a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the manifold branch, wherefore there is not the decided restricted throat'as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not desired to be limited to the foregoing except as may be required by the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an internal combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder, the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber bridging and restrictively communicating with the extremities of the branches of said manifold to receive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas.

2. In an internal combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber bridging and. restrictively communicating with the extremities of the branches of said manifold toreceive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas, said chamber being of sufficient capacity to overcome surging of gas in either of said branches.

3. In an internal. combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber having a restricted opening disposed between two adjacent branches of said manifold to receive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas from each branch.

4. In an internal combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber restrictedly communicating with the extremities of two adjacent branches of said manifold to receive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas.

5. In an internal combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber disposed between two adjacent branches of said manifoldto receive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas from each branch, said chamber having a restricted opening and being of sufficient capacity to overcome surging of gas in either of said branches.

6. In an internal combustion engine provided with a carbureter and a fuel intake port for a cylinder, the combination of an intake manifold having branches for conveying the fuel gas from said carbureter to a plurality of said intake ports; and a chamber having a restricted opening and. disposed between the branches of said manifold to receive a quantity of the conveyed fuel gas.

. 7. In an internal combustion engine the combination of an engine block and a conduit leading from a source of gaseous fuel supply, a chamber formed at the extremity of said conduit for receiving a portion of the fuel therein, said chamber having a restricted opening communicating with said conduit, and said engine block, and having an intake port for receiving fuel from conduit and said chamber.

GEORGE A; BARKER. 

